The Modality Effect in Free and Serial Recall as a Function of Phonological Similarity.

Subjects read lists of phonologically similar words (such as bud, cub, tuck, bug, duck, …) or lists of phonologically dissimilar words (such as bead, cab, tick, bog, deck, …) under instructions either for free or for serial recall; additionally, reading was either silent or overt. In free recall primary memory capacity was not affected by phonological similarity, whereas an advantage for the overt over the silent presentation mode was observed with the dissimilar but not the similar lists. Further, phonological similarity reduced the size of the modality effect in serial recall. Apart from its interactive effects with mode of presentation, the effect of similarity on free recall was beneficial for all except the recency items, whereas similarity reduced performance in serial recall. These results in particular allow dismissal of some hypotheses for the modality effect, and in general pose a problem for theories of how similarity affects memory.

[1]  Endel Tulving,et al.  Free recall of trilingual lists , 1970 .

[2]  Bennet B. Murdock,et al.  Short-Term Memory , 1972 .

[3]  Michael J. Watkins,et al.  The postcategorical status of the modality effect in serial recall , 1973 .

[4]  Robert G. Crowder,et al.  The sound of vowels and consonants in immediate memory , 1971 .

[5]  B B Murdock,et al.  Auditory and visual stores in short term memory. , 1967, Acta psychologica.

[6]  Murray Glanzer,et al.  Storage Mechanisms in Recall , 1972 .

[7]  Endel Tulving,et al.  Continuity between recall and recognition. , 1973 .

[8]  Michael J. Watkins,et al.  Concept and measurement of primary memory. , 1974 .

[9]  Phillip M. Tell.  Influence of vocalization on short-term memory , 1971 .

[10]  Darryl Bruce,et al.  Acoustic similarity effects on retrieval from secondary memory , 1970 .

[11]  George Sperling,et al.  The information available in brief visual presentations. , 1960 .

[12]  Stephen A. Madigna.  Modality and recall order interactions in short-term memory for serial order. , 1971 .

[13]  F. Craik,et al.  Semantic and acoustic information in primary memory , 1970 .

[14]  Alan D. Baddeley,et al.  Acoustic memory and the perception of speech , 1974 .

[15]  M. T. Turvey,et al.  Modality differences in short-term serial memory as a function of presentation rate , 1969 .

[16]  R. K. Cooley,et al.  Recall of individual CCC trigrams over short intervals of time as a function of mode of presentation , 1967 .

[17]  L. Nilsson.  Organization by modality in short-term memory. , 1973, Journal of experimental psychology.

[18]  Robert G. Crowder,et al.  The role of one's own voice in immediate memory ☆ , 1970 .

[19]  M. Posner,et al.  On the role of interference in short-term retention. , 1966, Journal of experimental psychology.

[20]  B B Murdock,et al.  Visual and Auditory Stores in Short-term Memory , 1966, The Quarterly journal of experimental psychology.

[21]  R. Conrad,et al.  Acoustic confusions in immediate memory. , 1964 .

[22]  Kenneth R. Laughery,et al.  Short-term memory: Effects of acoustic similarity, presentation rate and presentation mode , 1966 .

[23]  P. D. Mccormack,et al.  Auditory and visual short-term memory with successive syllable presentation in both modalities , 1969 .

[24]  Richard C. Atkinson,et al.  Human Memory: A Proposed System and its Control Processes , 1968, Psychology of Learning and Motivation.

[25]  F. Craik,et al.  Effect of Nonverbal Distraction on Short-Term Storage. , 1973 .

[26]  A. J. Hull,et al.  Input modality and the serial position curve in short-term memory , 1968 .

[27]  R. Atkinson,et al.  Recall of paired-associates as a function of overt and covert rehearsal procedures , 1968 .

[28]  T. Shallice,et al.  Please Scroll down for Article the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Independent Functioning of Verbal Memory Stores: a Neuropsychological Study Independent Functioning of Verbal Memory Stores : a Neuropsychological Study , 2022 .

[29]  B. Murdock,et al.  Modality effects in free recall , 1969 .

[30]  D. Routh.  Independence of the modality effect and amount of silent rehearsal in immediate serial recall , 1971 .

[31]  Walter Kintsch,et al.  Recognition and free recall of organized lists. , 1968 .

[32]  Phillip M. Tell.  The role of certain acoustic and semantic factors at short and long retention intervals , 1972 .

[33]  R. G. Crowder,et al.  Precategorical acoustic storage (PAS) , 1969 .

[34]  W A Wickelgren,et al.  Distinctive features and errors in short-term memory for English vowels. , 1965, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[35]  A D Baddeley,et al.  The relation between long-term and short-term memory. , 1971, British medical bulletin.

[36]  M I Posner,et al.  Short term memory systems in human information processing. , 1967, Acta psychologica.

[37]  Murray Glanzer,et al.  Effects of relations between words on short-term storage and long-term storage , 1972 .

[38]  Chris L. S. Coryn,et al.  Short-term memory , 1975 .

[39]  J. Morton.  7 – A Functional Model for Memory1 , 1970 .

[40]  Edward E. Smith,et al.  Imaginal versus verbal coding and the primary-secondary memory distinction , 1971 .

[41]  Murray Dj.  The role of speech responses in short-term memory. , 1967 .

[42]  W. Kintsch,et al.  Homophones and synonyms in short-term memory. , 1969 .

[43]  F. Craik.  The fate of primary memory items in free recall , 1970 .

[44]  A D Baddeley,et al.  Short-term Memory for Word Sequences as a Function of Acoustic, Semantic and Formal Similarity , 1966, The Quarterly journal of experimental psychology.

[45]  Bennet B. Murdock,et al.  Acoustic similarity effects on memory for paired associates , 1968 .

[46]  M. Gruneberg,et al.  Acoustic confusions and order forgetting. , 1972, Acta psychologica.

[47]  Michael J. Watkins,et al.  Locus of the modality effect in free recall , 1972 .

[48]  L. Horowitz,et al.  Free recall and ordering of trigrams. , 1961, Journal of experimental psychology.

[49]  B. Murdock,et al.  The effects of delayed auditory feedback and intralist similarity in short-term memory , 1968 .

[50]  David A. Routh,et al.  ‘Trace strength’ modality, and the serial position curve in immediate memory , 1970 .

[51]  G. Sperling,et al.  Successive approximations to a model for short term memory. , 1967, Acta psychologica.

[52]  Kenneth R. Laughery,et al.  Subject preferences and the nature of information stored in short-term memory. , 1969 .

[53]  William A. Roberts,et al.  Free Recall of Word Lists Varying in Length and Rate of Presentation: A Test of Total-Time Hypotheses. , 1972 .

[54]  W. Kintsch.  Learning, memory, and conceptual processes , 1970 .